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sewerage: Types of Sewage Disposal Systems

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Domestic sewage, produced in urban residences, institutions, and businesses, is usually collected by pipes and conduits called sanitary sewers, which lead to a central discharge point. In rural residences domestic sewage is often collected in a septic tank on the property. Industrial wastes, which consist of liquids produced in manufacturing processes, are sometimes collected in sanitary sewers, but the nature of many industrial wastes may make it dangerous or difficult to do so. Often industries dispose of their own wastes. Storm sewage, which comes from rain and groundwater, is collected either in a storm sewer or, with domestic sewage and industrial wastes, in what is called a combined sewer.

Sewer pipe must be strong enough to withstand the structural stresses to which it is subjected by being buried in the ground. In addition, the pipe itself and the joints between sections of pipe must be capable of withstanding at least moderate water pressure without significant leakage of sewage into the environment. Materials used for sewer pipe include plastics, vitrified clay, cast iron and steel, corrugated iron, concrete, and asbestos cement. Although usually circular, pipes are also made egg-shaped or semi-elliptical so that suspended solids do not accumulate even at a relatively low rate of flow, about 2 ft (.6 m) per second. Sewer pipes are usually inclined downward toward the central collection point so that sewage will flow to it naturally, although pumping stations may be required.

Sewage is eventually discharged into underground or surface watercourses that naturally drain an area. In past centuries, the dilution produced by discharging sewage into large bodies of water was considered sufficient to render harmless any toxic substances contained in it. However, the volume of sewage is now so great that dilution is no longer considered an adequate safeguard.